


A Concerned Third Party

by Katana_934



Series: A Concerned Third Party [1]
Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: AU, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2019-07-20 09:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 9,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16134197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katana_934/pseuds/Katana_934
Summary: Their latest number is a mystery. 15 years old and supposedly died as a baby. And there's no way of knowing what she's mixed up in. And when things take an unexpected turn, they're not exactly prepared. And when Elias escapes prison, they have a whole other problem...AU set before Relevance (Season 2 Episode 16)





	1. The Number

“Good morning Finch,” Reese greeted as he placed a senchai green tea and a box of donuts on the table.   
“Good morning, We have a new number,”  
Finch got up from his chair, and walked over to the glass panel, taping two pieces of paper to it.   
“Ella Williams, 15. Daughter of a murdered woman, no father in the picture,”  
Reese quickly scanned over the article.  
“Says that she’s meant to be dead,”  
“Yes, so I took a deeper look. All the funds the mothers account were transferred to another account two years ago. I managed to trace them to another account - anonymous of course - which pays for what seems to be a relatively normal life; food, clothes and bills for an apartment in Brooklyn. You should be able to find her there.”  
Finch taped a couple more pieces paper to the panel while Reese grabbed his camera, a Nikon, and his gun.  
“But who would want to kill her?”  
“Maybe she’s the illegitimate daughter of someone high up, and could destroy their reputation. Maybe she could identify a killer, or got involved in something she shouldn’t have. Honestly, with the amount of information we currently have, I cant tell you. In the mean time, I’ll try see what else I can dig up,”  
“And I’ll see if I can get a face to the name,”


	2. The Break In

“How’s it going Mr Reese?”  
“Well so far, all she’s done is... study,”  
“Study? For what? She doesn’t go to school,”  
“She must teach herself,”  
Reese glanced at her through a window.  
“You know, she kinda reminds me of you, Finch. Off the grid, keeps to herself,” he zoomed in with his camera and noticed a large amount of books. “And likes to read,”  
“People go off the grid for a reason mr Reese. Maybe her past is catching up to her,”  
“Have you found anything that could be a threat?”  
“I can barely find anything other than what we already know. We can’t help her, if we don’t know anything about her, so you’re going to need to keep a close eye on her,”  
He returned his focus to Ella, who was stood up and started collecting something.  
“Finch she’s on the move. I’ll follow her, but I need you to get in her apartment,” 

Reese followed her to an almost empty laundromat, where she put a load of washing in, then sat on a table and began to read a book, which she pulled form her backpack. He was interrupted by Finch’s voice.  
“I’m in her apartment now,”

Finch opened the door to her apartment. It was extremely cramped. In fact the bedroom, living room and kitchen was all one room. There was a bathroom just beside the kitchen area, but that was about it. His eye was immediately drawn to the many books placed in bookshelf, then the textbooks and work strewn across a small table beside the bed (which was essentially just a mattress on the floor). The work was maths. He took it upon himself to check it. He noticed some of the questions were wrong, but it was good work.  
“Found anything?”  
He was brought out of his thoughts by Reese.  
“No, not yet,”  
Finch continued to search, now rummaging through the kitchen cabinets. There was some food, some clothes and a few other things.  
“I’ll keep looking but as far as I can tell...”  
He felt something under one of the cloth piles. He pulled it out.  
“What is it Finch?”  
It was a gun. His eyes widened in alarm.  
“Mr Reese, I think she knows that there’s a threat?”  
“What?”  
“I just found a gun in her apartment,”  
“But why would a 15 year old need a gun?”  
Finch stared at the gun.  
“More importantly how did she get the gun?”


	3. Kidnap

When the body of Haley Williams was reported, it took only minutes for the cops to turn up. They pulled her body out the river, pronounced her D.O.A. Then they found the car seat. The police identified the child as Ella Williams, and searched for her body for days. Nothing. She was presumed dead.

But what they didn’t see was the man fleeing the area holding a baby. They didn’t see Ian Daniels place Ella Williams in the passenger seat and drive away.

———————

Ella’s phone began to ring. Reese watched as she answered.  
“Finch she’s got a call.”  
He synced to her phone and listened in.  
“Er, Ella? It’s James. Not to worry you but someone just went into your apartment,”  
“What does he look like?”  
Her voice was panicked.  
“Short - maybe about 5”8/5”7 - brown hair, glasses, walks with a limp. He was wearing a suit. Not a flashy one all those billionaires have but maybe something a professor would wear?”  
“I’m coming round. Gimme ten minutes,”   
She hung up.   
“Finch you need to get out of there. She knows someone’s in there and she’s on her way,”  
He watched as she collected her washing, shoved into her back pack alongside her book and bolted out the door. Reese had to walk briskly to keep up, until she suddenly began to slow down. She was just a couple blocks away from her apartment, when she took a right turn. And then another.   
Then he noticed the van that had been following her for a while.   
“Finch. Someone’s following her,”  
She took another two right turns, until she had walked in a complete circle.   
“I think she knows it too,”  
She walked into an alley, then stopped and looked at her phone.   
“What is she doing...” he murmured.   
The van pulled up behind her. He pulled his gun out and hid behind a dumpster.   
Quick as a flash, she turned and jumped onto the hood, then the roof before diving and rolling off it. Two men came running up to her, one of whom’s head she smashed into the side of the van. The other tried to pull her into a bear hug, but she bent forward and pulled his legs from beneath him. She looked over both shoulders before heading towards the main streets.


	4. 50 Dollar Bill

Reese stepped out before her. She got into a fighting stance.  
“Before you fight me, hear me out. My name is John. I’m here to help you, so you need to trust me,”  
She looked at him skeptically, then did a full 360 roundhouse kick, knocking Reese back into a wall. She turned and fled, running straight into another man, who hauled her his shoulder. Struggling she flipped herself, but couldn’t free herself from the man’s grip, and was dragged kicking into the van, a cloth held over her face. Chloroform. She soon went limp. 

He winced and stood up, was about to go after her but found himself faced with three men.  
“I told you the suit would turn up. You owe me 50 bucks,” one of them smirked.  
“Look, fellas, I don’t want to cause you any trouble, so-“ Reese was cut off by one of them throwing a punch at him.  
“Surely we can work this out?” He reasoned, ducking as one of them swing another punch. After 5 minutes or so, he had them knocked out on the ground. He brushed himself off and hurriedly stepped out into the streets. As he’d expected the van was already gone.  
“Finch, i need you to locate the van. It’s licence plate is eight, uniform, alpha, hotel, zero, one, nine.”  
“Where’s miss Williams? And can’t we track her phone?”  
Reese glanced at her backpack, which he was holding.  
“No, I have her phone. She’s in the van. I found our perps. Mafia. I’m going to get Carter to ID them. But they weren’t very impressed to see me,”  
“Mafia? She’s 15?!”  
“Finch, just get me a location,”  
He sighed and got into his car. Whoever this girl was, she was in a very dangerous situation, and he wasn’t sure how she got there.

About 5 minutes later Finch got back to him.  
“I have her location. The van is currently stationary near the Brooklyn Bridge, but you might want to get there quickly...”  
Reese started the car and sped off into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fanfic (I am new to this game) so please don’t judge. I will probably post every Friday. Enjoy.


	5. Arrival of an Angel

Ella opened her eyes. At first, the world was a blur but everything eventually focused. She was in the back wrists bound with zip ties. Then she saw the two guys sitting smirking at her. She glared at them, only provoking them to smirk more.  
She was about to open her mouth to retort, when the van stopped. The doors opened and she was pulled to her feet by the two smirking men. She didn’t recognise either of them. ‘They must be new,’ she thought. They brought her to the edge of the river, to where Daniels was standing. She was made to kneel.  
“On December 5th 1997 a woman was murdered at 10.43 pm. She was drowned exactly where I am now.” He began, turning to look at the girl. “And now, 15 years later, her own daughter is about to meet the same fate. How poetic,”  
He crouched down so he was closer to her height.  
“You know, I thought about keeping you alive but... then I realised, you’re irrelevant,”  
He smiled and stood up.  
“Toss her. You can make your own way back,”  
Daniels stalked over to the van, jumped in and drove away. The two smirking men did as their nickname suggested: smirked. They hauled her up. She glanced between the two men, before slipping out their grasp. As she went to fight one, the other grabbed her by the shoulders. She kicked one in the face, knocking him out before trodding on the foot of the man holding her, then also knocking him out with a kick. Now they were out cold, she bent down to get a knife or something to cut the zip ties out of one of their pockets when she heard footsteps. Ella looked up, saw Reese, then scrambled back.  
“You. Again. You’ve been following me. You were outside the laundromat. You were there when I was kidnapped. And you’re here now. So who the hell are you?” Her voice was quiet, almost fearful.  
“I’m John. I help people out of difficult situations,”  
He put his hands up to show he wasn’t a threat.  
“I’m here to help you,”  
Reese walked slowly towards her, like you would a feral dog. She stared, ready to run at any given moment. He pulled his knife out, flicking it open. She flinched and shrank away. He cut the zip ties, put his knife away, took a few steps back, and looked at her. She was afraid, and he could see it in her eyes.  
“I need you to trust me. Whoever wants you dead will come back, and they’re not going to be happy if they find you’re still alive,”  
Ella walked towards him and nodded her head.  
“I’m going to take you somewhere safe,”  
A gunshot rang out, hitting the ground beside where Ella stood. Reese pulled out his gun and shot at the assailant, while ushering her into the car. She wasn’t sure where she felt safer. Out in the open with the guy shooting at her, or in the backseat of the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post, i’ve been doing shows for the past two weeks


	6. Perpetrator

While the two men talked, Ella played with Bear, who had taken a liking to her since the moment she sat down. She was partially listening in to as much of their conversation as she could, although she was mostly focused on the dog. He was very cute, but almost half her size. 

Reese saw her playing with the Belgian malinois and smiled. He walked over to her and sat on the sofa next to where she was sat on the floor.  
“The men who tried to kill you were mafia. Do you have any idea why they want you dead?”  
She shook her head.  
He knew she was lying.  
“I can’t help you if I don’t know what the threat is, and I have a feeling you know what it is,”  
She looked down, as if deciding whether to not to spill the beans.  
“Why should I tell you?”  
“I saved your life,”  
She sighed; he had a point.  
“I... stole half a million dollars from a mafia, and... they’re kinda mad about it,”  
“I don’t think that’s the story,”  
She stared at him.  
“What, you want me to tell you my whole life story?”  
There was a pause. Ella turned her attention back to bear.  
“Look, by now, I could have killed you in numerous ways,”  
This caused Finch to look up in alarm.  
“But I haven’t. And I haven’t turned you in to the mafia. And I won’t turn you into the police for stealing the money. I just want you to be safe,”  
She looked back at him.  
“Why do you care what to happens to me?”  
“I don’t like it when people mess with kids,”  
Reese smiled, and Ella looked him in the eyes.  
“My Mum was murdered - I’m assuming you know that, right? Well, somehow, Ian Daniels found me. He raised me with the mafia, except to him I was... nothing more than a... a punchbag and a tool. Although.. stealing from him wasn’t... the only thing I did. I kinda... shot him once,”  
“Thank you,” 

Reese stood up and returned to Finch’s side.  
“Ian Daniels, head of a mafia, that’s our threat,”  
“You got that out of her?”  
“With some persuasion,” he shrugged.  
Finch looked at him, eyebrows raised before searching up Daniels on the internet. A lot of things came up, ranging from crimes to transactions.  
“I’ll call Detective Carter tomorrow to see if he has any prior convictions or warrants,” Finch looked at Ella. “But it’s fair to say we have a rather dangerous perpetrator,”


	7. The Next Morning

2010-

The doorbell rang. Roslyn King smiled at Ella - who was sitting on the sofa - before answering it.  
“Hi can I help you?”  
To her surprise she was pinned against her wall.  
“Where is she?” a man hissed.  
Ian Daniels. He then saw Ella cowering on the sofa. He grinned.  
“Well I never,”  
He let go of Roslyn and stalked towards the girl, grabbing her by the neck of her t-shirt.  
“Little hellcat. Thinking you could stay hidden forever,”  
He dropped her and turned round to Roslyn.  
“And you. You stole from me. I don’t like people who steal from me. Do you want to know what I do to the people who do,”  
Ella was shaking her head, while Roslyn just stared.  
“I kill ‘em,” he snarled, then he grinned menacingly.  
“Please,” Ella trembled. “D-don’t, please, don’t kill her. It’s not her fault,”  
“Shut up,”  
He punched her, then returned his attention Roslyn.  
“Any last words?”  
He pulled his gun out, and grabbed Ella by the shoulder and forcing her kneel.  
“Fight because you don’t know how to die silently,”  
Roslyn stared at Ella - who was struggling to get out his grip - and smiled, albeit a sad one.  
“Cute,”  
Daniels pulled the trigger. Then did it again. And again. And again, until he had fired all 8 shots.  
Ella managed to break free, and rushed over to Roslyn. And she could only watch as the one person she cared about bled out on her lap.

———————————————————

Finch soon left, claiming that he would be “more useful back at the library”. Reese had convinced Ella to sleep, and was now sat alone. Not that being alone was anything new to him. He talked to Finch for a while, discussing what Daniels, and how to stop him. By 1.34 am, the two decided to get some sleep.

Ella woke up 5 hours later. At first she worried: she had no clue where she was. But then she remembered what had happened, and became calmer. She was still wearing the same clothes as last night: black tank top, red plaid shirt and black jeans. Her black converse were lying beside the double bed. She pulled them on and walked into the main area of the hotel room. Reese was already up, and barely noticed her until she walked right past him.  
“I forgot to give you this,” he held out her backpack.  
She took it out his hand.  
“Thanks,” she murmured.  
Her phone began to ring. Confused, she rifled through her bag and pulled it out. She answered it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I’m only going to be posting every two weeks, life is busy. Hope you are still enjoying.


	8. The Phone Call

“Hello?”  
“We’ll find you. Just like we did with Roslyn King,” Came the voice.  
Ella stopped dead, phone still up to her ear.  
Reese turned around and walked out of earshot of the girl.  
“Finch you there? I need you to search a name. Roslyn King,”  
“Roslyn King. Murdered in 2010. It was a cold case, killer never found. Gunshot wounds to the abdomen and chest. Looking over her case file around four men and a young girl were seen leaving the building. One of the men fits the description of Mr Daniels, and the young girl’s that of Miss Williams.”  
Finch’s voice came in almost immediately. There was a pause, then Finch spoke again.  
“I’ve managed to get a hold of the feeds for that day. The same four men were seen entering the building, but no sign of our number. However, she does appear to walk in with Miss King about an hour before her murder.”  
Another pause.  
“It’s not just that day. It’s almost every day. She was not involved in the killing, she was close to miss king. She must have witnessed her murder,”  
Reese looked at Ella.  
“It wasn’t because he was going to get her, it’s because he mentioned the only person she was close to,” he murmured to himself.

By the time he had finished speaking to Finch, Ella has already hung up the phone and was putting it in her backpack. The door slammed open, and both of them looked up to see a grenade flying into the room. Ella ducked away from it, and watched as it began to spew smoke. She ran into the bathroom, pulling off her plaid shirt, wetting it under the tap and held it over her mouth and nose. She ran back into the main room, where there was now two grenades billowing smoke, which was stinging her eyes. She could see some men clad in black with gas masks - Daniels and his men no doubt - rush into the room. Deciding to remain hidden, she looked to see what she could use as a weapon. Nothing sprang to mind.

A figure move towards her. Ella prepared to fight, but relaxed when a face emerged: it was Reese. He had a wet towel over his face and his gun in hand. He nodded towards the door signalling for her to try get out. In response, she raised both eyebrows, asking about him. His steely face betrayed nothing. She nodded again, then disappeared from his sight and into the smoke. Two figures came up in front of her.  
“Found her,”  
She glanced between the two before running straight past them, towards the door. If she could make it to clean air, she’d be able to fight better. She was stopped in her tracks by someone grabbing her arm and trying to pull her back. She twisted out the arm, grabbing his arm and pinning it behind his back. Before she could do anything, she felt a needle sticking into her arm. She let go and turned around, saw another guy holding a syringe, before the ground came up to meet her. She didn’t hear the thud as Reese also collapsed to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  
> (word of warning, there’s a surprise coming in a chapter or two)


	9. Interrogation

Ella’s eyes opened. Her legs were zip-tied to a chair, her arms bound behind her back. She was in a basement, one she was all too familiar with. It was only lit by one single strip light, that would flicker on and off every minute or so. To most, it would be irritating, but she was used to it. Beyond the light’s reaches she couldn’t see much, but if she squinted enough, she could make out a door. Just like every other time.

She heard footsteps, footsteps tapping their way to the door. The door opened and a figure - who she could tell was Daniels - stepped in. She could practically hear the smug smirk on his face. She rolled her eyes as he stepped into the light. He punched her. Hard. In the face.  
“Oh. Right to the point I see,” she remarked, earning a second punch.  
He walked out the light, and pulled a chair to face her. Smiling sweetly, he began to talk.  
“You see, I was originally planning on just killing you - I mean you shot me and stole from me. And of course, I’m sure you remember what I do to people who steal from me,”  
She looked away, trying not to remember Roslyn’s bleeding body.  
“I get the picture,” she whispered.  
“But then I realised: while we were busy hunting you down, you stole even more money, right from under our noses. Now, I’m going to be nice and let you live a bit longer, so now you’re going to be nice and tell me what you’ve done with my money,”  
She stared at him for a while, considering her options before shaking her head.  
“No,”  
“What?” He snapped.  
“I said no,”  
His nostrils flared and he punched her again.  
“Look, I gave you the good option, but you refused, so....” He smirked. “Now, I’m going to get it out of you in less... pleasant ways,”  
“What, less pleasant for you or for me?”  
“You always were difficult,” Shaking his head, he stood up and walked right up to her, holding her jaw so she was looking him in the eyes.  
“Last chance. Tell me where the money is,”  
Ella remained silent.  
“Fine. That’s how you want to play, huh? Hard way it is then,”  
“Pretty sure that was two last chances,” He glared at her. “I see being kidnapped and tortured hasn’t affected your sarcasm,” “Never,” she half-smirked. At that, he kicked her in the chest causing the chair - along with her - to fall backward. She winced, watching as Daniels turned his back on her. Slipping the the chair legs out the zip ties around each leg, she then broke the ones binding her wrist. At the snap of the zip tie, Daniels turned round, then saw her stand up.  
Ella stared at him like a rabbit in the headlights before running towards what she thought was the door. He grabbed her arm, she tried to break free but he anticipated it and knocked her to the ground.  
“And where do you think you’re going?”  
“Places,”  
He hauled her up and placed her back on the chair.  
“Now why don’t you just stay there?”  
Daniels grinned menacingly.  
“I know you have the money. I know you hid it somewhere. What I don’t know is where that money is. But you’re not being compliant, so congratulations, that’s how we’re playing it now,”  
He turned and walked away before stopping at the door.  
“Move even a single muscle and I will make you sorry. More sorry than when you shot me,”  
He slammed the door shut. She was already regretting her non-compliance. But she had to.


	10. The Surprise

Reese woke up with a hood over his head. He was in a van. In fact, he was pretty sure it was the same van from earlier. His hands were tied behind his back, and his gun was missing. Funny that. Within seconds of the van stopping, he was manhandled out. He could hear the van drive away. 

Meanwhile, Finch was sat in the library.  
“Mr Reese I think I’ve found something. I traced the money in Miss Williams bank account. Most of it goes back to her mother’s account, except in that account some of the money comes from another woman, who went missing the same night as Haley Williams. Either Ms. Williams was murdered by this woman, or Ms Williams has another identity, and I get the feeling it’s the latter,”  
Finch was surprised when he heard nothing in return.  
“Mr Reese?”  
Still no answer.

Reese could hear everything finch said, but he could say nothing in reply. The hood was pulled off his head. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the morning light, then heard a gun cocking, and felt the muzzle being pressed against the back of his head. A hand patted him down, a last check for any weapons. The hand reached into his pocket pulling out his phone, pressing the hang up button.  
“Sorry, am I interrupting something?” the guy said.  
At that Reese turned round, knocking the gun out of the man’s hand, then flipping him onto the ground. The guy groaned and began to stand up, before being knocked out.  
“Kinda,” he muttered, picking up the gun and the phone.  
He dialled Finch back.  
“Mr Reese! Are you alright?”  
“Had a run in with the mafia. You said you think Ella’s mother had an alias?”  
“Yes. Her alias was Haley Wells. I can’t find much about her, but I think this alias was what got her killed,”  
“Haley had an alias?” Reese murmured to himself.  
“You knew her?”  
Silence.  
“She was... a girlfriend...” he trailed off.  
“Oh my....” was all that escaped Finch’s lips.  
For the second time in the space of a minute, they lapsed into silence.  
“So you think... she’s your daughter?” Finch said uncertainly. “What exactly do you plan on doing next?”  
“Get her back from Daniels,”  
With that, Reese hung up and began looking for a car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha Surprise... *laughs nervously*  
> Please don’t hate me for this. Yes, I know, I should have put it on the blurb, but I wanted to be a surprise. So tada! *more nervous laughter*  
> Anyway, Reese has ive seen other fanfics where he has a daughter, and I’ve always loved the idea. He has always been really good with kids, and has stayed he thinks it would be nice to have kids/a family (baby blue s1-ep17), so I thought ‘hey do my own version of this.’ Originallly, it was just a scenario in my head, but one day I decided to write it down. Can I point out that this is my 6th rewrite. Every time I look at the first version, I cringe so much. I’m cringing just thinking about it. So yeah, please don’t hate me for this, and I’m sorry if I did ruin this for you (and I’m sorry for the extremely long note). If I did ruin it for you, I will be posting other stuff. So yeah thank you all for reading this far.


	11. Save me

Daniels walked in, holding something in his hand. As soon as he stepped into the light, she saw what it was was. Brass Knuckles.  
Boy was she in trouble.  
“I will make you talk,” he snarled, slipping his fingers into the brass knuckles.  
Ella just stared, and kept staring as a fist came flying into her face.  
She winced. Something ran down her face, except it wasn’t tears. No, it was blood. She received more punches, and watched as blood dripped onto her clothes.  
“Tell me where my money is,”  
“No,”  
He stood back.  
“What happened to you? You used to be so compliant...”  
She looked him dead in the eyes.  
“I got used to your pain,”  
He glared at her, punching her again, before turning away. To Ella’s surprise, he put the brass knuckles in his pocket, pulling out a phone.  
“Well, guess we’ll have to use a different tactic,”  
He showed her a video. There were two men: one with a gun, which was pointed to the other man’s head. The second one had a hood over his head, which was then pulled off. It was Reese. Ella clamped her hand over mouth. All she could think was that it was all her fault. Once again a good person was going to die because of her. Flooded with guilt, she looked away. Daniels put the phone back in his pocket and smirked.  
“Can’t bear to watch him die, despite the fact it’s all your fault?”  
She glanced at the door. Even if she did manage to get passed Daniels, she probably wouldn’t get very far. She knew perfectly well that most of his men were all round the building, and wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her. And besides, as far as she was concerned, she deserved the imminent death.  
“No-ones coming to save you. You’re all alone,”  
Ella couldn’t speak. Her mind was too focused on what she’d done.  
“Might as well tell me where the money is. It’s not like you can go any more wrong than killing someone who’s trying to help you,”  
She stayed silent.  
“WHY WON’T YOU JUST TELL ME WHERE MY DAMN MONEY IS?!” He yelled in an outburst of rage.  
“Because you’ve never done anything for me,” she whispered, looking at her feet. “So why should I do anything for you? And besides, we both know what you’ll use it for,”  
“You know what? Maybe killing you will be worth $500,000,”  
Daniels pulled out a gun, loaded it and cocked it.  
“Kneel,” he hissed, gesturing to the ground with his gun.  
She did as he said. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do. She’d got two good people killed in her short lifetime. As well as the others. She felt the gun being pressed against her head. She realised that pretty much everything leading up to this moment had really sucked.  
“Any last words? No? Well this should do it,”  
He threw pictures at her. Ella picked them up. One was of Roslyn’s dead body, and the other was of Reese with a gun to his head. A tear rolled down her face, mixing with the blood. It was all her fault...  
A gunshot rang out.


	12. In The End

Daniels cried out. Ella jumped. Why wasn’t she dead? Slowly, she turned around. Daniels was staggering around, grunting in pain and clutching his leg. The door was open, and a silhouetted figure stood there, holding a gun. The figure began walking towards her. As soon as they stepped into the light, she saw that it was Reese. And she just began to cry. He came and crouched down beside her.  
“Hey. You wanna get out of here?”  
She nodded and stood up. He turned round and came face to face with Daniels. Glaring, Reese knocked him out, then beckoned for her to follow. 

Ella followed very closely behind Reese as they walked through Daniels’ safe house. She was right about Daniels’ men being armed and on guard - although Reese had clearly “fixed” that problem. The were all on the ground, some clutching their legs and groaning; just like Daniels had. ‘Must be his thing’ she thought. Even with the guards on the floor, some even shrinking away from Reese as he walked past, she would glance behind her shoulder every five or so seconds, as if she was expecting someone to come up behind them and kill them. They eventually reached Reese’s car. Well, she was pretty sure it wasn’t his, considering the driver’s window had been smashed. She sat in the backseat, staring at her hands, while he sat himself in the drivers seat. He turned around to face her.  
“I’m not going to let him hurt you ever again. I promise,”  
He then realised she was looking at something in her hands. She glanced up and saw him looking at her hands. He gave her look, and she could tell he wanted to know what they were. Biting her lip, she passed over the two photos to him with a trembling hand.  
The first one was of a woman with eight bullet wounds. Roslyn no doubt. He clenched his jaw. What kind of twisted person would torment someone by reminding them of a loved one’s death? Especially someone like Ella, who had already suffered enough.  
“I’m going to take you to a detective. She’s going to look after you for a while,”  
She looked at him, visibly alarmed.  
“She’s not here for you. You’ve done nothing wrong,”  
He started the car and drove away.

Carter was sitting at her desk, flicking through a case file. She sighed, leant back and began to twiddle her pen. This new case really had her stumped. All the leads she had chased were dead ends, and she had no new ones either. She glanced over at Fusco’s desk, which was vacant. She sighed again. Today was going well.  
Her phone began to ring.  
“Carter,” she answered, bringing the phone to her ear.  
“I need you to look after someone for me,”  
“Sure John. It’s not like I have day job or anything,” she retorted, sarcasm piercing through every word.  
“It’s not for that long. An hour maybe?”  
“Fine. But I’m bringing my work with me. I am not going to have the Captain mad at me cause of you,”  
She hung up the phone, and started to put everything back in the case file. The Captain had been pretty grouchy this week, and she wasn’t going to get on his bad side by not working. Besides, for all this case had her stumped, it made her all the more determined to solve it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post *again* I haven’t written in a week (I know, I’m ashamed of myself) but hope anyone who is still here *laughs awkwardly* is still enjoying ACTP  
> If you are still here then thank you


	13. Trust

Carter was surprised to see a girl with blood on her face. She was expecting an adult, and much less blood. She watched as Ella disappeared into the bathroom, obviously to tend to her cuts. Carter turned to Reese, who was stood next to her.  
“What happened to her?” She asked.  
“Long story,” he replied, walking off.  
She sighed, irritated. One day, he would give her a proper answer, and not just walk of. She sat at the table and began to go through the case file again. This was really getting old. Every time she thought she was close to solving it, something would come up and she’s have to go back to the start.

Ella meanwhile was tending to the large amount of blood on her face. There was only 2 cuts, it’s just the face bleeds a lot, making it look worse than it really is. She closed her eyes. The past two days had been awful, and a lot unwanted memories had been dredged up. She sighed. All she wanted was to go home to someone who would hold her and tell her everything was okay. All she wanted was for someone to care. But she knew that wasn’t going to happen. No-one cared; but that was the same way her life had been. Except with Roslyn....  
She wondered what life would be like if her Mum hadn’t been killed. Would she have met her father? Would she be happy? Or would her life end up the same way? She asked herself this a lot, especially when life was at its worst. Like now. 

Carter began to wonder where the girl had gone. She really hoped Ella hadn’t ran off, as Reese would get really annoyed at her. As if on cue, Ella appeared. Carter smiled.  
“Hi, I’m detective Carter,”  
“I’m Ella,”  
Carter received a half smile from the girl, who came and glanced over her shoulder, eyes scanning through the case file. Ella skimmed over the notes.  
“He wasn’t killed by that mafia,” she pointed at some of the pictures.  
“See that? That’s not their brand. It’s similar, but theres some anomalies. They also don’t have motive. They don’t kill civilians, even if they think those people are watching them. And even if they did do that, they don’t really use that area and they have an alibi,”  
Carter looked at Ella. How did this girl know this much about some mafia? Especially considering this mafia liked to stay out of the news.  
“So who do you think it was?”  
Ella shrugged.  
“I don’t know. I think it was a set up. They only have one or two enemies. Though I think one of the cartels wants their territory. Start there,”  
As Ella walked off, Carter stared at the file. Who was this girl?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know, I posted late for the second time in a row. I had an essay and a short story due for English and songs to learn for shows so ya sorry for the delay, but on the bright side I have written some more chapters so I’ll post next week to make up for it :)


	14. Where have you been?

Daniels was standing, brass knuckles in hand, ready to punch Reese as he came in. Reese flipped him onto the floor, and stood over him. Daniels looked up at his aggressor. Reese had his jaw clenched, and was glaring at him. Reese dragged him to the chair and forced him to sit down.  
“What do you want?” Daniels hissed.  
“To make you pay,”  
“What?” Daniels smirked.  
Reese’s icy stare soon wiped the grin off of Daniels’ face.  
“I don’t like killing people, but I’m very good at it. And there are some people who deserve it. Like you,”  
“Oh, I deserve it? Somehow I get the feeling this isn’t your first killing. In fact, you seem quite the expert. So how many people have you killed, huh? What makes you think I deserve it any more than you?”  
Reese narrowed his eyes.  
“I’m not the one who tortured a girl for nearly 15 years,”  
He shot Daniels and walked off. Daniels was no longer a problem. 

As he got into the car, he called Finch.  
“Mr Reese? Where have you been?”  
“Saving Ella,”  
“Yes, and the past half hour or so?”  
“Dealing with Daniels,”  
“Dare I ask how?”  
“Best if you don’t,”  
“So what are you going to do now? About earlier...”  
“I’m gonna tell her,”  
“Is that necessarily a good idea? In our line of work there’s a lot of risk involved,”  
“She deserves to know Finch. Besides, she’ll never be able to have a normal life,”  
“You’re right. You should tell her. But...”  
“What Finch?”  
“Never mind,”  
Reese ended the call.

Ella was reading a book when Reese came in, while Carter was on the phone. Carter put her hand up to tell Reese to shush and continued her call.  
“I’ll be down at the precinct in....”  
she glanced down at her watch.  
“15 minutes,”  
She hung up, and turned her attention to Reese.  
“Gotta go, following up a lead,”  
She left.

He went and sat across from Ella. She looked up from her book, correctly assumed he wanted to talk to her and placed the book on the coffee table.  
“We need to talk,”  
She nodded.  
“What do you know about your mother’s murder?”  
Ella closed her eyes for a moment, before speaking again.  
“Not much. I know she had an alias. I don’t where she was murdered. They found her body in a river, could have come from anywhere. They also found my car seat, so they just assumed I was dead. I don’t know why she was killed. I know when she died. December 5th 1997 at 10.43 pm. If I’m honest, I don’t know much. But then nor did the cops,”  
“Do you know who killed her?”  
“Daniels. I think. Why else would I still be alive?” She paused before continuing hesitantly. “Speaking of Daniels, what happened to him?”  
Reese wasn’t quite sure how to answer that.  
“He’s dead,”  
“Oh,”  
She glanced down to the floor.  
“What about your mother’s family?”  
“Don’t know. I just assumed they didn’t care. There’s never any flowers at her grave, there wasn’t even a funeral. In the case file, one of the leads was that a boyfriend had killed her, but nobody knew who the boyfriend was,”  
“I was him,”  
She looked up at him, half surprised, half confused. Her eyes met with his, then she looked away. She eventually looked back at him.  
“Was she nice?”  
Reese nodded.  
“So does.... does that make you my... Dad?”  
“Yes,”  
The pair sat in an awkward silence for a while.  
“Look, I understand if you want to go back to your apartment and forget about this. I just... thought you might want to know,”  
Ella stood up, walked over, sat beside him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Reese was surprised at first, but soon returned the embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what, I’m just going post every Saturday. Although I’m pretty sure it would already be Saturday when I post on Friday because time differences. (I’m assuming you guys are American. Although you might not be). So yeah, I shall post every two Saturdays (Uk time)


	15. Second Chances

Chapter 15: Second Chances-

2010-

Ella knew she was at the point of no return. But she really didn’t care. What did she even have left to care about? All the people who she cared about were gone, along with everyone who cared about her. And she was mad. Her whole life she had suffered. What made her deserve such suffering more than anyone else? Nothing. So she had a score to settle with the world, starting with the person who sold Roslyn out. 

And there she was; standing in his apartment, holding a gun - which she knew perfectly well how use.  
“You sold her out,” she hissed, before she put a bullet in his head. And she immediately felt guilty. It dawned on her what she had just done. She was only 13, she should not be doing this, let alone even thinking about doing so! Yet anger once again took over and she walked out the apartment. In her head, it was justified. He got an innocent person killed for money, so he got killed. ‘What goes around comes around,’ she thought, as she walked through the night.

——————————

The rest of the day was a very awkward day. Ella was still taking it in. Every so often, she had to remind herself that it was actually real. When she was younger, she used to imagine what her family would have been like. She would always have a mum who helped her up when she fell, who would pick her up from school everyday. She’d imagine she went to school, rather than trying to teach herself with stolen and dog-eared textbooks. And she’s have a dad, who’d tell jokes and make her smile. Every time they’d be slightly different, but they would always care about her, and she’d always feel safe and happy. But the older she got, the less she tried to imagine, and the more she realised she was alone in the world. But she was ok with that. She would just find a way to escape Daniels, get herself an apartment, and a dog. She wouldn’t need anyone. But somehow, she wasn’t alone. And she couldn’t be happier.

Reese was also taking it in. His job was dangerous, and he didn’t want her to get hurt because of it. He knew she could handle herself, but he wasn’t going to take the chance. But he also knew that he was all she had left. And if he was completely honest, he had always wanted a child...

Most of the day was uneventful. Reese took her to lunch at about 1.30, where they talked; not much, but Ella opened up a lot more than she normally would. They were sat at one of the window booths, waiting for their food to arrive.  
“I never thanked you for saving my life. As much as I’m sure I deserved it, I’m replay grateful I’m not dead. And I’m sorry he tried to kill you. And for kicking you,”  
Reese looked at Ella, a serious expression painted across his face.  
“You didn’t deserve it Ella,”  
“You don’t know that,”  
“I do,”  
“I’ve done bad things. After Roslyn was killed, I was angry. Like, really angry. Why? Because anger was better than tears and grief; better than guilt. I didn’t care what happened at that point,”  
“That doesn’t make you a bad person,”  
“Easy for you to say. You help people, you save their lives,”  
She sighed and looked out the window.  
“I’ve killed people,”  
Her voice was quiet as she said it. He could tell that she felt extremely guilty, feeling like she was as bad a person as Daniels.  
“I’ve killed people too, and you still think I’m a good person,”  
“You were military, I knew that. But have you ever killed people because you were angry?”  
“Yes. But you’ve also done good things. You stole what, half a million dollars? None of it went to your bank account - my friend checked. And I doubt Daniels would still be trying to kill you if he got that money back. So what did you do with it?”  
“I gave some of it to a man with his wife and child in hospital who couldn’t pay for the bills, and some to some homeless people and put some in charities. But that doesn’t change anything,”  
“If you were a bad person, you would still be killing, and you would have kept the money for yourself. But you haven’t. And besides, I believe in second chances. Give yourself a second chance,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed, I changed the tags. I have written ahead (about 11 chapters to be precise), and decided to change the tags. So yeah, hope you enjoy latest instalment.


	16. Safety

That night, Ella stayed at Reese’s apartment. The two had argued over who should sleep on the sofa, seeing as there was only one bed. Reese claimed that he probably wasn’t going to go to sleep, and Ella said that she was the guest so she should sleep on the sofa. Ella won. She had settled down and fallen asleep, while Reese was sat awake at his table. He was reading Crime and Punishment - which he had “borrowed” from Finch two days prior - when his phone began to buzz. He glanced at it, saw that it was Finch calling, and answered.  
“Good evening Mr Reese. I’m afraid I’m calling with some bad news. Elias has escaped from jail,”  
“When?”  
“About an hour ago. I think it would be wise to tread carefully, as I get the distinct feeling he has something planned, which can't be good. I’ll explain the rest to you in the library. Also I appear to be missing Crime and Punishment. I was going to ask you if you knew of its whereabouts, but I’m sure we can leave it for now, considering recent events,”  
“Goodnight Finch,”  
Reese ended the call, smirking. Only Finch would know that one of his hundreds of books was missing despite it only being two days. But his smirk was soon wiped off his face when he thought about Elias. Despite being in jail, Elias had still managed to run organised crime throughout the city. So like Finch said, if he was out of jail then something big was about to happen. Something bad.

He was brought out of thoughts by a noise. Out of instinct, his hand flew to his gun, before hearing it again and realising that it was Ella.   
"Ella?"   
No answer. He got up and went to see what was wrong. She was just turning in her sleep. He turned round and was about to leave, when he heard a small whimper. More movement. Then another whimper. She was having a nightmare. Reese watched as she began to toss and turn, a look of fear growing on her face. The whimpers soon became words. Words like "no" and "please don't."

In Ella's dream, she was in Daniels' basement. There was a guy sitting tied to a chair, but she couldn't make out his face. There was a figure with a gun. Someone said "thanks for bringing him in Ella, maybe you're not so useless after all." She kept seeing flashes and hearing noises, and it was all very choppy.   
Then there was a muffled noise, and she was back in Roslyn's apartment. Roslyn was sitting there, gun to her head. Reese was also there, and he had a gun to his head too. The two people she cared about were going to die. She began to panic. There was talking except she couldn't make out what they were saying. She was trying to get to them but something was holding her back. She kept repeating "no, please don't." Nobody listened. All of a sudden Roslyn was lifeless on the floor, a pool of blood beneath her. Ella wanted to scream. Nothing came out. There was more muffled noises then Reese was lying. on the floor, also bleeding. 

"No!" she cried out, sitting bolt upright as she jolted awake. She looked startled and scared, her breathing quick and shallow. She jumped when she registered Reese was standing watching her, a concerned look on his face. He immediately came to comfort her, wrapping her up in a hug. Closing her eyes, Ella tried to forget the nightmare. But all she could think about was Reese's body bleeding out on the floor. Her dad's body. She buried her face into his shoulder. Her dad was all she had left. If she lost him too...  
"Hey, its alright. I've got you,"   
Reese rocked her back and forth. He knew a thing or two about comforting people. He waited until her breathing became normal, and she became more relaxed. 

As for Ella, for the first time in ages, she felt safe. She felt safe in the arms of her dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I had to do it. (I really didn't) Also woo plot point Elias broke out of jail! 
> 
> VAGUELY IMPORTANT MESSAGE:
> 
> Happy Easter Y'all!!   
> Katana ;)


	17. Bacon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter. I'm pretty sure I spent half an hour deciding whether or not "confusedly" was a word, eventually gave up and just wrote it anyway. Anyway things should get exciting (or at least I tried to make it exciting) in about three chapters, but ya enjoy the chapter?
> 
> Katana :)

Ella sat awake for a while after that. The sofa was right against some of the many windows, so she watched the streets below. She watched every car pass, every stranger walk down the street, every little thing. She was aware that Reese was settling down to sleep, and that she probably should too, but still chose to watch the world go by. And she did so until she wasn’t able to keep her eyes open. This time she slept peacefully: no nightmares. 

She woke up to a sizzling noise, which wasn’t exactly what she expecting. Then she smelt it. Bacon. Glancing over to the kitchen she saw Reese cooking. She stretched, stood up, and wandered over to see him.   
"Good morning." Ella slid onto one of the stools at breakfast bar.  
"Morning," Reese responded, his voice gravelly like always.   
He then took the pan of bacon off the heat, and put the bacon into some rolls. He slid Ella a plate before coming round to join her on the spare stool.  
"Hope you don't mind but you're going to have to come to the library with me,"  
"The library?" Ella looked at Reese confusedly.  
Reese smirked and replied:   
"You'll see,"  
The two continued to eat their meal in silence before Ella spoke.  
"Is it okay if I go to my apartment first to get changed?"  
"Sure,"

While Reese waited in the car, Ella was unlocking her door. She fumbled around her backpack for her key, then unlocked the door. Out of habit, her eyes scanned the room, looking for anything that had moved or gone missing. Nothing. Her apartment definitely wasn't as spacious as Johns. No, dad's. She had to correct herself. She shrugged her backpack onto her unmade bed. Well, if you could call it that: it was essentially just a mattress on the floor.   
She opened the cupboard where she kept some food and her few clothes, and pulled out a fresh pair of leggings, a white tank top, and a black hoodie. Whilst doing so, she found the gun and sighed. She sworn she’d never use one again; she didn’t even know why she kept the damn thing. Every time she saw it she remembered her first kill. And the rest of them. Closing her eyes, she pushed the images out of her head and started to get changed. John would be waiting.  

Reese glanced up to see Ella climb into the back of his car. He smiled before starting the car and driving off. He had a feeling she would like the library.


	18. The Library

Ella followed behind Reese cautiously as they climbed the stairs of the library. Reese could sense her unease and turned round to her.  
“Hey, Relax. You remember my friend Harold? This is his place,”  
She nodded and continued following, but her eyes kept flickering around. They eventually reached where Finch was sat at his computer.  
“Good morning Mr Reese, Miss Williams,”  
Ella was too busy staring in awe at all the books. She recognised some books she had read, as well as many rare first editions.   
“We have a new number Mr Reese,”  
Ella was immediately brought out of her trance.  
“Number?”  
Reese and Finch glanced at each other. Meanwhile Ella had noticed the board with all the previous numbers. She walked over to it and scanned over it.   
“Number... as in social security number?”  
She turned round to look at the pair, glancing between them.   
“Okay what are you not telling me?”  
Reese once again looked at finch, who - to his surprise- began to start talking.  
"After 9/11, the government wanted to be able to stop further terrorist attacks. The NSA gave itself access to everyone’s personal data, but they needed a machine to dig through it all. I built it. It uses camera feeds, reads emails, traces and listens in to phone calls - everything. It was only designed to prevent acts of terror, but it also predicts violent crimes about to happen, and when it does, we get a social security number. We never know if it's a victim or perpetrator, but John here makes sure the crime doesn't happen,”  
“That sounds legal,”  
“It’s not. Especially us getting the numbers, so you can’t tell anyone about this I’m afraid,”  
“Who do I have to tell?” She muttered to herself, before walking over and sitting herself down by Bear.

“So who’s the new number Finch,”  
There was a pause.  
“I’m not sure new is the word I’d use describe him,”  
“Leon?” Reese sighed.  
“I’m afraid so. Mr Tao’s last known address is a hotel in Chinatown,”  
“I’ll get there right away,”  
He whistled to Bear, who came trotting right up to his side. After clipping the lead to bear’s collar before leaving. 

Ella eventually got up and started looking at the books again.   
“Am I allowed to read these?”  
Finch looked up from his computer, mildly confused.  
“Of course,”  
She then disappeared round the corner looking for some reading material. Eventually, she settled on a first edition of To Kill A Mockingbird and began to read. 

Reese arrived at the hotel room and kicked down the door. Lo and behold, there was Leon being cornered by three men. The three men turned round to see Reese and then the dog, who was already flying towards one of them. Reese took on the other two and the three were unconscious on the floor.  
“Oh hey there John,”  
Bear raced towards Leon and proceeded to lick his face.  
“We need to stop meeting like this Leon. What did you this time?”  
“It was just a loan!”  
Reese raised his eyebrows.  
“Okay maybe not a loan exactly.... Hey, I was going to pay them back!”  
One of the guys in the floor must have regained consciousness because he then spoke.  
“Leon stole from us, and we don’t take stealing lightly,”  
“I was gonna pay you back!” Leon repeated.  
Reese crouched by the man.  
“I’m sorry for the loss of money, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to let it slide, or your gonna lose a lot more than some money,”  
“Is that a threat?” The guy scoffed.  
“Yes. And I mean it when I say don’t try kill him again. I will know, and I will kill you if I have to,”   
Reese shot a look at Leon.  
“Although if he keeps this up as a habit, I might go back on that deal,”  
He stood up and clipped the lead to Bear again, then called Finch  
“Leon’s fine, I’ll be back at the library soon,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah sorry about the fact I haven’t updated in almost a month (😬😅) but I have excuses (hehe) I moved up into s3 recently (our school is strange) and I now have two maths tests and a science test to revise for so it slipped my mind (sorry y’all). After I’ve finished this (I'm about halfway through on my laptop hehe) I’ve got some other fics planned (hint hint got some whump coming up I’m a sucker for it). Chapters will now start to get longer (sorry about that). 
> 
> Side note: I create an Instagram today feel free to follow me @katana_934
> 
> Katana :)


	19. AUTHORS NOTE

Yeah I’m not going to lie here this is becoming a bit of a mess. I know I have around 8 chapters written in advance but somehow I have no time to write anything. I do want to write this - sometimes I think to myself “why am I even bothering to write this” but I then realise I actually want to write this. To be honest I don’t even know if anyone reads this anymore (so this may be falling on deaf ears) but hey I’m still doing it. The next couple of weeks will probably be messy (school trip, school show, school in general) but as soon as summer comes I should be back on track (sorry for the excuses y’all). This is my first time ever posting/showing stuff I’ve written, so mess was kinda expected (in my opinion anyway), and I will try to be more organised in the future. I might delete this all (from ao3 at least) and polish it a bit, so if this randomly disappears, it should (in theory) come back at some point. So yeah, thanks for reading (up to now/whenever you stopped) and I hope I can continue this 

Katana :)


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